It is well known in the art to employ ultrasonic energy for effecting and enhancing the delivery of medicaments, applied either topically or furnished from a body implant. The following U.S. patents teach the use of various ultrasound techniques for such purposes: Fahim U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,309,989 and 4,372,296, issued Jan. 12, 1982 and Feb. 8, 1983, respectively; Langer et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,543, issued Apr. 14, 1987; Kost et al U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,767,402, 4,780,212 and 4,948,587, issued Aug. 30, 1988, Oct. 25, 1988 and Aug. 14, 1990, respectively; Fox U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,888, issued Nov. 29, 1988; and Tachibana et al U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,821,740 and 4,953,565, issued Apr. 18, 1989 and Sep. 4, 1990, respectively.
The following patents may also be of interest to the subject matter: Boucher U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,444, issued Feb. 9, 1971, teaches an ultrasonic drug nebulizer; Take-moto et al disclose devices for transmitting ultrasonic waves to teeth, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,125, issued Nov. 28, 1978; and Duarte describes, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,360, issued Jul. 23, 1985, a method for healing bone fractures with ultrasound. Figge et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,777, issued Oct. 28, 1969, provides a method for administering therapeutic agents in which a magnetic field is applied to the organism, and iontophoretic drug delivery methods are described in Sanderson et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,726, issued Feb. 2, 1988, Newman U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,046, issued Jun. 5, 1990, and Stephen et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,938, issued Dec. 25, 1990.
Despite the activity in the art indicated by the foregoing, it would of course be highly advantageous to increase the efficiency by which a substance, especially a medicament, can be transferred through a membranous layer at a treatment site. Accordingly, it is the broad object of the present invention to provide a novel device, system, and method by which such increased efficiency can be realized.
More specific objects of the invention are to provide a device, system and method having the foregoing features and advantages, by which the treating substance may be delivered directly to the site, and which are in addition incomplex, convenient to use, and economical to produce.